At the University of Haifa, where Muslims, Jews, Christians, Druze, Arabs and Israelis coexist together in peace, I developed close friendships with Israeli Jews and Arabs. In our conversations, we continuously returned to the meaning of democracy within a Jewish state. It was a tense topic, and increasingly so when compacted with the issue of love. I learned that it is during the marriage process, through interaction with the State rabbinate, that most Israelis first personally confront the issues that a Jewish democracy poses.

Classically, college exposes young adults to new and complicated viewpoints that are difficult to synthesize. By spending a semester abroad with Masa Israel at the University of Haifa, I was able to find ground for my new ideas to flourish. Since then, my understanding of Israel and my connection to Israel have deepened and matured.